Guided Reading Organization Part 1 (The Binder)

I'll start off my by telling you that I am NOT an organized person.  For the most part I know where my things are and their placement makes sense to me but probably not to anyone else.  So I'm guessing if anyone who knows me in real life would read this they'd be laughing their tail off.  It's not that I don't want to be organized, I do, it more that I typically can't find an idea and stick with it. I blame it on my ADHD but who knows.  Last year all my rearranging and trying new things led me to the perfect GR organization method and thought I'd share... I'll start off my by telling you that I am NOT an organized person.  For the most part I know where my things are and their placement makes sense to me but probably not to anyone else.  So I'm guessing if anyone who knows me in real life would read this they'd be laughing their tail off.  It's not that I don't want to be organized, I do, it more that I typically can't find an idea and stick with it. I blame it on my ADHD but who knows.  Last year all my rearranging and trying new things led me to the perfect GR organization method and thought I'd share how I keep myself organized for my favorite part of the school day. Today's topic will be my Guided Reading Binder 

This is my binder from last year. It's seen better days and I can't wait to slip all my resources into a crisp new binder.  I like to keep all my lesson plans and lesson materials in one place. I keep records of all the lessons I've taught my groups and any notes I took during each lesson, guess you could say I'm pretty paranoid.  I found the best way to keep everything together is in a binder. I recommend a 2 inch binder. 

The first thing I have inside is my schedule of when I meet with each group. 

I keep this in a sheet protector because I update it every quarter and like to keep track of prior quarters. 

Next I have my groups laid out. 

Behind this I keep my class reading level chart. 

I update this every quarter as well.  It helps me see where everyone is all at once and form my groups.  

The next section is where I keep my blank running record score sheets and cheat sheet. 

I try to keep at least 15 blank sheets so I always have one available. These are what I use to when I take a running record on one of my students cold reads during our lesson. I use leveled readers for this, I only use the benchmark books for my quarterly benchmark assessments.

The final section(s) in my binder are for my actual plans. 

I have a tab for each group and keep all their lessons behind each tab. 

This is a lesson plan template off Jan Richardson's website and as you can see I wrote all around it. I can't wait to put the lesson plan templates I made this summer to use!  

In the inside pocket of my binder I keep my anecdotal notes labels. 

I have the originals in the back and the actual labels, at least 5 sheets, in the front.

And that's how I keep my Guided Reading lessons together. If you're interested in my running records sheets checkout this freebie in my TPT shop, the lesson plan templates are also free here, and everything else is in my Guided Reading Goodies file.  

I would highly recommend reading The Next Step in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson if you want to use my templates.   My favorite TPT files on guided reading are by Lesson Plan SOS and What the Teacher Wants. 

I'll be back tomorrow to share how I organize my guided reading area!